The Marauder's Years at Hogwarts
by SnapCrackleSpock
Summary: Everyone knows the story of the boy who lived . . . But what's the story of the four whom came before him? What's the story of the Marauders? (Rated T just to be safe)
1. Chapter 1

James Potter was not a fan of long train rides. He was not overly fond of compacted, confined space. And, above all, James Potter couldn't stand being squished into a box with _X_ amount of strangers. Of course, these were all things he had the misfortune of looking forwards to as he trailed after his parents in Kings Cross Station. It was to crowded for his liking, with to many people pushing past one another, not bothering to apologize whenever they almost ran over the 11 year old boy and his cart.

"Now, James." His mother said as she turned to face him. They'd stopped in front of a brick wall separating platforms nine and ten. She was a beautiful woman; warm eyes the color of chocolate, hidden behind glasses that framed her face beautifully. She had brown hair to match her eyes, both the exact same color. The curly locks had been pulled into a gentle braid that fell to her waist. "This might sound the slightest bit odd, but we're going to be running through that there wall."

"Eve," James' father said, turning to face the two of them with an exasperated look on his face. His black hair, the same midnight color that James'd inherited, had been gelled so that, rather than hair, it resembled something along the lines of a helmet. "The boy's been playing with floating balls and enchanted books since he could. I highly doubt that he'd find a wall that you can walk through as any surprise."

"You have the cloak I put in your trunk, don't you?" Mrs. Potter whispered to him, a glimmer of mischief in her eyes. James nodded in response. She'd told him not to take it out of his trunk until he was in his dorm room and it was late at night, after all his future roommates were asleep. She told him that it'd been given to her on her first day of Hogwarts, and had been passed down for generations in her family.

"Shall we, then?" Mr. Potter arched an eyebrow impatiently. James' father was a very punctual, and hated to be any more than 10 minutes early for any sort of event. He ruffled James' hair as he took his place next to his father and, with a deep breath; the youngest of their family ran head first into the brick wall. He wasn't afraid of it, for he'd seen things like this being done all throughout the wizarding world, however that didn't stop him shocked when he passed effortlessly through, as if instead of bricks he were passing through water.

He was soon followed by his parents, and, after a moment of simply standing there, a hoard of children and adults, all with jet-black hair. "Watch it!" One of the adults called over her shoulder, her wild black curls swinging with her motion before her head snapped back to her own group of children. "Bellatrix! How many times do I need to tell you not to bite your cousin?"

"The nerve of some people, these days." Mrs. Potter asked to no one in particular, a look of disgust crossing her features. James didn't like the way that emotion arranged her features, it made his mother's eyes seem to small and her mouth seem to high above her chin. It was a rare thing, seeing this emotion cross her face, and James hated every time he did see it.

"Never mind those uncultured Neanderthals." Mr. Potter brushed the thought aside and began leading his family to a red and black train titled 'The Hogwarts Express', where hundreds of families were crowded, getting bags into cars, saying their goodbyes, and parents were kissing the top of 11 year old's heads one last time before sending them off for an entire year. "Now, son." It was James's father's turn to spin James to look at his eye. "You make sure to write to your mother and I at least once a month, you hear me?" James nodded, glancing at his gray owl. "And you promise that you'll do your best when Quidditch tryouts roll around."

"Dad, I know." James smirked sarcastically. He was itching to get on the train, but at the same time dreading the experience. "And I promise I'll do everything I can to make the team." His father smiled and ruffled his hair, which he quickly ducked away from. "Dad!" He complained.

"Sorry, sorry." Mr. Potter stepped back and joined his wife to the side of the fake brick wall. "I know, you're a young adult now. I'm just very happy that you're finally going to Hogwarts."

"Charles!" Mrs. Potter gasped and elbowed her husband in the ribs before turning to James. "What your father _means_ to say is that we're both very proud of you, and excited that you're going to get your official wizarding education." She apologized. "And I know he's been pressuring you to be in the Gryffindor house, but you should know that all of the houses are equally great, and you should be placed in the one that best suits you, not the one that everyone wants you to be in."

"Of course a Hufflepuff would say that." Mr. Potter commented under his breath before looking up again, skillfully avoiding his wives annoyed stares –which caused her eyes to expand to twice their normal size as her head turned slowly towards his- as he pushed James gently towards the train. "Now go get on the train before there's no room left."

With that James was off again, stomach flipping over itself as he pushed his cart. Once the majority of his baggage was loaded safely under the train where it belonged he boarded the train –showing his ticket to an older student whom was already in their school robes- and began searching for a compartment with enough room for him. It took him to a different train car, but he did eventually find another car that was mostly empty, save a slightly chubby boy with dirty blonde hair.

"Is it okay that I take refuge here?" He quirked an eyebrow at the boy, whom was absorbed eating the sandwich he'd been devouring a moment before. The boy was sitting on the closest seat to the window on James' right and swiveled his head to face the boy.

"Take refuge from what?" He asked worriedly, a small piece of lettuce falling from his mouth, which he desperately tried to wipe off his white button-up as he swallowed his sandwich bit.

"Relax." James smirked, taking that as his cue to fully enter the compartment and placed his one carry-on bag on the overhead net above the seats to his left, which he then fell onto. "It was just a joke."

"Oh!" The boy across from James nodded, a slightly lost look in his eyes. "Okay . . . Well I'm Peter." He extended a hand, which had a little bit of dirt caked onto the knuckles. "Peter Pettigrew."

"James Potter." He replied, extending his own hand across the narrow space of the isle in between them to shake Peter's hand. "Pleased to meet you, Peter. And thanks for not turning me away."

"'T's not a problem." Peter shrugged and retracted his hand. "I mean, why would I? It's not like I really know anyone else on the train? And what would it say about me if I didn't let you take a seat in the next-to-empty compartment?" He grabbed his sandwich and took another bite from it, chewing thoughtfully.

"You're a first year too?" James asked. He'd assumed that Peter was a second year, at least. Something about him seemed older than James, although he couldn't place a finger on what it was. "Well, that's good. If we luck out, we'll even be in the same house."

"Wouldn't that be something?" His ne acquaintance laughed between bites of his food. "Although I doubt it. I'm probably going to be in Hufflepuff. And you seem like a Gryffindor or Slytherin type of boy. Don't ask me how I know, 'cause I don't know. You just sort of walk in that sort of way. The way you hold yourself, y'know?"

"My mum was a Hufflepuff. Are you saying that being in that house is a bad thing?" He asked, suddenly defensive of the house. "Because some really great wizards were in that house, so you shouldn't be disrespecting it like that."

"Oh no!" Peter quickly apologized, eyes widening to the size of saucers. "I didn't mean it like that! Not at all." He ran a hand through his hair. "Geez, this isn't how I meant for this conversation to go at all. What I meant was that you just seem like the brave type. Whereas I couldn't even hurt a pixie."

"Sorry." James sulked back into his seat. "I guess I'm just really defensive of that house. It gets way more crap then it deserves." He shrugged. "But never mind that. 'Sides, Peter, I'm sure you could be a Gryffindor if you wanted."

"Thanks, James." Peter grinned. "That's really nice of you to sa-"

"All aboard!" A booming man's voice rang across platform 9 ¾. "All aboard the Hogwarts Express!" James looked out the window, intending to find his parents so he knew where to wave when the train began moving, only to watch a young boy sprinting across the platform, trying desperately to shoulder people out of the way.

"Wait!" He yelled, light brown hair flapping as he sprinted. He only carried one trunk with him, which he seemed to be dragging with all his might. "Wait for me! I have a ticket!" Finally, he managed to get to the door closest to James and Peter's compartment, and he heard the poor boy loudly board the train. "Is there anyone else sitting here?" He breathlessly asked once he saw their mostly empty compartment.

"Yeah." James nodded. "Come on in." He watched as the boy gratefully entered their compartment, taking a seat next to Peter after he shoved his trunk on top of the netting. It was old and beat-up looking, but a shiny plaque glimmered next to the handle. _R. J. Lupin_.

"What's the R stand for?" James asked and readjusted his spectacles. "Ronald? Richard? Roger? Randy? Robin?" He continued listing off names, at least until the boy caught his breath and held up a slightly shaking hand.

"I'll solve the riddle." He grinned shyly. "The R stands for Remus. And, before you ask, the J stands for John." He heaved once more before straightening his grey jacket. "So, What're you two's names."

"Nice to meet you too, Remus." James snarked -with good intention, of course- before pointing to himself. "I'm James." He gestured to the boy across from him. "And that's Peter."

"It's nice to meet you both." He bobbed his head. "Sorry I didn't say so before. I was lacking oxygen in my brain, so I wasn't thinking clearly." He joked before brushing a hand through his hair.

Suddenly, the train lurched forwards, and a whistling sound rang throughout the station. Slowly, the wheels began turning and the train began moving. All of the boys crowded around around the window, waving at each of their parents until they couldn't anymore.

"-Nd stay out!" A female voice called from the compartment across from theirs. Each of the boys swiftly turned their heads to see the door sliding open and watched a girls shove out a young boy, whom looked around James' age. He suddenly recognized the black hair on his head. The door slid shut with a bang –after the girl shoved a bag and a weasel out of the compartment after the boy- and he muttered a string of indecent words.

After getting up and dusting off his trousers, the boy turned his head and saw the three other boys staring. "My cousin Bellatrix, she'd a second year and thinks she knows everything." He noticed the empty space in their compartment and a glint crossed his eyes. "Mind if I join you guys? I sort of lost my space in."

That was how James met Sirius Black, whom wound up sitting next to him. Immediately the two boys hit it off, finding a shared love for Bertty Botts' Every Flavored Beans Roulette, and promising each other a match later.

"Where have you been all my life?" Sirius let out a bark of laughter before calming down and looking over to James and Peter and Remus. "Okay, so Lupin, why exactly were you running to catch up with the train?"

"We arrived late." Remus shrugged. "There's really not any more explanation to it. I mean, I told my dad that we didn't have time to stop to grab something to eat, but he insisted." This caused the group to laugh again and James couldn't help but feeling as though he'd mentally tossed his fear of the train ride out the window. These boys didn't feel like total strangers, they felt like people he'd known his entire life.


	2. Chapter 2

"Hello?" A knock sounded on the frame of the door to the four boy's compartment. James, along with the others, turned his head to see a young girl, probably their age, with flaming red hair and neatly pressed school robes. "Do any of you know the way to the lavatory? I can't seem to find it." She was beautiful in the way James thought many wizarding celebrities were beautiful. She had an elegance to her that was like icing on the cake.

"End of the car." James jerked is thumb in the direction she needed to go. "There's a sign right outside of it. Hard to miss. But, before you go, might I ask your name?" He but on his best smirk, hoping to at least get that much from the girls, who was rather attractive.

"Lilly Evans." She extended her hand for a shake, which he accepted. "Pleased to meet you, and I'm sure we would all have wonderfully interesting conversations but I really do need to go." She disappeared out of view before reappearing a moment later, staring directly at Remus, whom was reading a book entitled '_Hogwarts: A History_'. "By the way, I've already read that and I found chapter six to be particularly interesting. Okay, goodbye boys." She said, disappearing for real this time.

"So what is in chapter six?" James asked, turning to Remus whom hadn't even bothered to look up from his book. "I mean, she said that it was interesting, so what's it about?" He took out a bean from his package, pleasantly surprised to find it to be cherry flavored.

"James Potter." Sirius grinned and took a bite off of his chocolate frog. "Is it possible that you've developed a bit of a crush on that there girl?" He gripped his frog tighter, ripping off one of the legs before taking it into his mouth, making sure to keep a tight grip on the creature, which was still squirming.

Suddenly James' face became very red, even if he truly didn't want to admit it. "Of course not!" He denied quickly. "I just wanted to know what it was about!" He turned to face the window, watching the rolling hills pass. Every once in a while there would be a house, but rarely. Of course it wasn't possible he was developing a crush on a girl he didn't know. "Never mind that. We should be there any minute, let's get changed into our robes."

* * *

"First year students!" A loud voice called from outside the train. "Please follow me!" James stepped off the train, trunk and owl cage in tow, with the rest of his small group and followed the sound until his eyes landed on a tall woman with waist length purple hair. "Do not worry about the bags you've left under the train, we will take care of them."

There was something strange about her voice, something that definitely wasn't British. It took him a moment to realize that her accent was, in fact, American. "Did you know that they had American teachers here?" He whispered to Peter, whom simply held up his free hand –the other occupied with dragging his own trunk- in an 'I don't know' manor.

"First year students!" The woman called again. "Please follow me to the lake! Second to Seventh year students, please make your way to the carriages! Please remember last year's incident with not going to the carriages! I do not want to have another pixie infestation, so if you would not mind, let's be quick about this!"

The first years all gathered around her, which made her look even taller, somehow. She wore a trailing blue dress that matched her eyes, and her hair moved with the slight wind. "Hello, first year student!" She greeted once there was only a small trickle of older students left exiting the train. "My name is Ms. Smith and I will be your defense against the dark arts teacher. If you would please follow me, I'll take you to the boats. Before you get in, let's keep it to four per boat? I've had seven students try to cram together into a boat once and, well, let's just say our giant squid had a lot of fun that night."

"Boat together?" Sirius asked the group, and each of the boys nodded in agreement. "Good. Because I _really_ didn't want to share a boat with my cousin." He gestured to a girl with wild straight, black hair, much like Sirius' own, who had linked her arms with another blonde girl and they were skipping toward the boats together, knocking other students out of their way.

"I can see why." Peter commented as they began their decent down the hill to the lake, which reflected the lights of the castle majestically. "No offense or anything, Sirius, but that girl is _scary._"

"Scary doesn't begin to describe Narcissa Lestrange. And it's an entirely different idea to think about Bellatrix." Sirius mumbled darkly before shaking off the idea and continuing on, as if the conversation hadn't happened. "So what are we waiting for? Let's get into these boats!"

They all climbed into the boats, trunks and owl in the center, and looked around the floor for the paddles, only to find that there were none. "Excuse me, professor?" A boy with golden hair asked from the left of their boat. "Because there aren't any paddles."

"Ah!" Ms. Smith looked up suddenly from her private boat. "Yes. About that, these are, of course enchanted to move by themselves. So all you need to do is simply sit back and relax. Thank you for bringing that to my attention Mr . . ."

"Lockhart." He grinned a dazzling smile. "Gilderoy Lockhart. And it was no trouble."

"What a douchebag." James sneered and looked at the rest of his new friends. Spontaneously, they all burst into a fit of laughter. Suddenly the boat jerked forwards, the light hanging from the front swinging, causing a dazzling spectacle on the to play on the ripples of water.

* * *

"Alright students!" Ms. Smith smiled, standing in front of all of the students, whom were gathered at the base of large, marble staircase. All of the first years had abandoned their trunks and cages at the bottom of the staircase and now gathered around the defense against the dark arts teacher. "Settle down please, I have a bit of an announcement." Once she was satisfied with the dulled noise level. "Now, in just a moment you'll be lead into the Great Hall, where you'll be sorted. It'll be going in alphabetical order according to last name, so those of you who's last names start with things like _X_ and _Y _and_ Z_ please be prepared to stand for a while.

"You all have the possibility of being sorted into one of four houses: Gryffindor, Ravenclaw, Slytherin, and Hufflepuff. Once you are sorted you will go to your respective house table. Trust me when I say that you'll know which table belongs to which house based on how loud they're screaming when you're sorted. After announcements from the headmaster and dinner the heads of houses will escort you to your dormitories. Classes begin tomorrow."

A collective groan rang through the otherwise empty hall as James thought sourly to himself. _Sirius sure is one lucky bloke._ At least Peter's name also began with a _P_, so he wouldn't be alone for terribly long. And one of the other boys was bound to be placed in the same house as him, so he wouldn't be all by himself.

Of course, there was always the possibility that they wouldn't. Sirius had informed him that he'd come from a long line of Slytherins. And Remus seemed rather intelligent, so maybe he would be a Ravenclaw. And Peter had said himself that he was practically destined to be a Hufflepuff. This was, of course, assuming that James would be sorted into Gryffindor, and he saw no reason why he shouldn't be. He wasn't smart enough to be a Ravenclaw, and he wasn't kind enough to be a Hufflepuff. It was always a possibility that he would be in Slytherin, but he would rather die than let that happen. He had a family legacy to uphold.

Suddenly the doors were thrown open, and loud chatter rang from it. Thousands of voices were all talking at once and James was instantly overwhelmed. But once Professor Smith began leading them down the hall, the voices quieted. Once they reached the end, she stepped onto a raised platform, where another witch was already waiting. The new teacher was far older, just from looking at her James could tell. She already had wrinkles across her face and graying hairs, however this did not take away from her beauty.

"Hello students." She looked over the new batch of wizards and witches, her green eyes glancing quickly from student to student. Her emerald robes shined brilliantly in the light of the thousands of candles suspended by nothingness in the air. "My name is Minerva McGonagall and I will be your transfigurations professor here at Hogwarts. I trust that Ms. Smith has already informed you on how we will be sorting you." She turned and glided back to the large table where the rest of the faculty sat, and opened a large, brown hatbox sitting on top of it. Out of is she pulled out an old hat that had a wide brim and a point at the top.

She set it on top of a tall stool, which was positioned in the center of the platform, when the strangest thing happened. The hat began _singing_. Of course, James couldn't really make out the lyrics, not between through the mumble of his fellow students and the folds of fabric blocking the strange clothing item's 'mouth'.

Once it stopped singing, Professor McGonagall unfurled a scroll of parchment, which James couldn't read through the back of. "Ludovic Bagman." The teacher called before letting her hands fall. "Would Ludovic Bagman please step up?"

A young, blond boy stepped out of the crowd and took his place on the stool, after the teacher'd lifted the hat out of the way. After he'd settled himself again she placed it on his head, where it sat for a moment before crying loudly. "Hufflepuff!" There was a collective holler from a table that held multiple students with black and yellow robes, very much like the ones he'd seen in the back of his mother's closet once.

"Narcissa Black!" The McGonagall called. James looked to Sirius, who was standing to his immediate left, give an eye roll as he watched the young girl walked merrily to the stool. Before the hat could be fully lowered onto her head it let out a grand 'Slytherin!' That was the only signal she needed to speedily run over and join the girl at the Slytherin table that Sirius had identified as Bellatrix. "And next: Sirius Black."

"Wish me luck, mates. All fingers crossed that I get put anywhere but with them." He snickered and jut his chin to the other Blacks before sauntering to the stool. The sorting hat had been lowered on his oily, black hair for a longer time than either of the students prior to him until it finally belted out 'Gryffindor!'

The table filled with students decorated with red and gold clothing cheered excitedly as he strutted over to join them, being welcomed immediately and chattering only a bit before turning back to James, Peter, and Remus and flashing them a grand smile.

"Dirk Cresswell!" Was the next name to be called –a Ravenclaw- and the cycle continued like that. A child's name would be called, they would mount the stool, the hat would be lowered, and they would be sorted. Some were up there for a long time, and others were sorted like Narcissa, short and quickly. James didn't really pay it much attention until one name was called in particular. "Remus Lupin."

Remus seemingly let out a loud breath before making his way to the stool and the hat was lowered once again. The sorting hat took his time placing Remus. Not as much time as he'd spent with Sirius, but time none the less. It all was rather tense until the hat shouted 'Gryffindor!' and was removed. Remus hopped off the stool and ran to meet Sirius, who clapped him on the back.

_Two in Gryffindor._ James thought glumly. _Here's to hoping that I end up with them._ He knew it was slightly self-centered and, okay, _very_ clingy of him to wish that. But it wasn't all about them. A good portion of him had wanted to be a Gryffindor before meeting these boys. Now his initiative had simply greatened.

And then the sorting continued, with James tuning it out and looking around while he probably should've been paying attention. Nothing new to him at all. He looked around the hall, watching the moving images on the roof and then turning his attention to the teachers, trying to guess what each of them teached. He'd just gotten to the woman he believed to teach herbology –due to the large flower extending from her robes- when "Peter Pettigrew!" Was called and the last remaining of his friends moved to the platform.

In much more time then Sirius, which was filled with whispers that James could barely hear, the sorting hat bellowed the word 'Gryffindor!' and was removed. Peter grinned even wider than Sirius had as he joined the other two boys, sitting on the opposite side of the table of the other two. "James Potter!"

Letting out a sigh he didn't know he'd been holding in, James but on a brave ace and began his way to the stool. Once he was settled he felt the old cloth lowered onto his head, flopping a bit over his eyes and knocking his glasses askew slightly.

"Gryffindor!"


	3. Chapter 3

It's not like James got anything less or more spectacular than any of the other students received when they'd been sorted. A handful of boos came from the Slytherin table as James made his way to the Gryffindor table, which was far more welcoming. With a breath of relief he took his place next to Peter, sitting directly across from Remus, who was seated next to Sirius. "Hello, chaps."

"James! Welcome to the best of the houses!" Sirius beamed, casting a quick, disapproving glance to the Slytherin table before returning his attention to the other four boys.

"Isn't this all a bit exciting?" Peter smiled and watched the next girl to be sorted walk to the Hufflepuff table. "I mean, what with all the mystery of where you're going to end up? It was really fun!"

"I don't think I would've necessarily called it 'fun'." Remus laughed lightly. "However, I do think it's a rather interesting system on how to divide the classes. I read somewhere, chapter three I think, that the Gryffindor and Slytherin's have most of their classes together, same with Hufflepuff and Ravenclaw."

Sirius groaned and let his head fall to the oak table, ebony hair spreading out on top of him. "Just when I think I've gotten away from my lunatic-filled family they sneak up behind me and bite me in the ass."

"They can't be that bad." Peter assured Sirius, so completely sure of his promise as he beamed at the back of his head. "I mean . . . What could they possibly be doing to you that's _so terrible_?"

Sirius picked up his head to look at Peter with his intense, gray eyes. Those eyes that looked like they belonged to someone far older than an eleven-year-old. Eyes that gave the impression that they've seen things that no child should ever see. "We just don't see eye to eye." He said finally. "On anything." He turned his head, obviously not intending on keeping the conversation alive. "Hey, Potter. Isn't that the girl you fancy?"

James turned his head to watch the red haired girl who'd talked to them earlier on the train sitting further up the table, talking to other first years. "I don't fancy her." He mumbled in annoyance and turned his head away from her.

Before the other boy could make some sort of comeback a hush fell over the rest of the hall and everyone turned to see the man who'd been sitting in the center of the teacher's table stand up. He had a beard that fell nicely on his chest, like a fresh layer of snow. His half-moon spectacles glittered from the light of the candles and he cleared his throat.

"Students." He greeted, voice booming to loud for such an old man. James assumed he'd cast a spell before beginning to address the students. "My name is Albus Dumbledore, and I am the headmaster here. I assume that you all are eager to begin the feast and be off to your dorm rooms, so I shall try to keep this short. As you are aware, there are four houses. Over the year house points will be awarded and deducted and, after being added with points from Quidditch, and the house with the highest amount of points will be awarded the house cup, which currently belongs to the Hufflepuff house." A cheer came from the table belonging to said house.

"Now, before the feast begins, I must remind first year students, and all others as well, that the Dark Forest is strictly forbidden. Anyone caught in the forest without a teacher's direct supervision will be punished immediately. I would also like to take this moment to remind the students that curfew is at 10 o'clock sharp. Any students caught outside of their dorm after then will be taken to a teacher's office and punished however that teacher sees fit. Now, I believe I've been talking long enough. Enjoy the feast!"

Suddenly the table was flooded with foods, drinks, and desserts of all sorts. Ice cream and iceberg lettuce sat next to each other, and the students gladly took to it like moths to a flame. Remus was first to reach for the desserts, grabbing a fair amount of chocolate pieces and eating them gladly. Sirius was quite the opposite, piling all sorts of meat onto his plate before tearing into it like a wild dog. Peter grabbed anything he could get his hands on, from salad to pasta to cake. And finally there was James, who was content with his bowl of soup followed by a slice of apple pie.

Throughout the meal they talked, and joked, and wondered about the year to come, all buzzing with excitement for the coming year. The chatter of thousands of students filled the halls to the point where the boys had to yell to one another simply to be heard. All to soon the feast had ended. The dishes disappeared and the headmaster stood once again. "Students! Your heads of houses will now lead you to your dormitories. On behalf of the rest of the staff, I would like to say: Welcome to Hogwarts."

"Cantatis." The head boy of the Gryffindor house, Owen Anthony, said in front of a portrait of a woman in a flowing, purple chiton. James resisted the strong urge to cover his ears as she sang a note far off-key. "Ma'am, I said Cantatis."

"Alright! Alright!" She said, finally stopping her horrendous wailing. "There's absolutely no reason to be so rude about it." The painting swung open and they all flooded in, most –like James- wondering what'd been so rude about Anthony's request.

The Gryffindor common room was a cozy place, with rugs piled onto rugs, plush chairs littering the room, and a roaring fireplace. "I'll make this simple because I think we're all a bit tired." Anthony said through a yawn. "Boys take the staircase to the left. Girls, the same goes for you to the right. First year students have two rooms; pick one and your things'll be there by morning. Now, off to bed! You can look around tomorrow!"

The first year students all scurried off, with the alumni sniggering as they scrambled to get rooms with their friends. By some miracle the four boys managed to snag the four-person room for themselves, leaving the rest of the boys the room with five beds. Each of them was quick to choose a bed and change into the pajamas trousers that were already waiting for each boy on the beds.

James sat on his bed, which was the closest one there was to the window facing the lake, and sighed contently. "It's been one hell of a day." He laughed before flopping onto his bed, the crimson duvet sinking beneath his weight. The curtains surrounding his bed fluttered from the slight breeze his actions caused and he stared at the ceiling, that'd been painted to resemble the stars.

"You could certainly say that again." Sirius agreed, sitting cross-legged on his own bed and tying his long hair into a small bun with the help of a black elastic that James hadn't known was around his wrist. After seeing the perplexed stares from his new roommates the boy shrugged. "What? It's hot in here."

"That's because there's weather repellent charms on the windows and heating charms on top of them." Remus commented, taking a bar of chocolate from his robes and breaking off a square to eat. James couldn't help but wonder how on Earth the boy ate so much chocolate and still was as thin as a wand.

"Thank you, Remus, for that much needed insight." Sirius smirked lazily, letting himself fall back onto his bed. "And I suppose you could tell me what sort of feathers they stuffed the pillows with, too?"

"Just thought I'd pitch into the conversation." He raised his hands in a surrendering manor, but he was smiling too. For a second his eyes flicked to the window and James looked to see what was so interesting. That particular window only gave a view of the mountaintops, so nothing could be seen asides from the moon and the stars. "Doesn't matter though. We should all probably try to get some sleep, it's getting late and we have classes tomorrow.

You can't blame James for oversleeping. With all the excitement of his first night he'd really not been able to sleep at all. So instead he found himself riffling through his trunk –which must've been brought up when he dozed off a bit around midnight, only to be reawaken by his owl and not be able to sleep again- until he found the cloak his mother must've packed for him. It was a dreadfully old looking thing that seemed worn beyond repair in some places. And yet, not a hole could be seen in it.

It was big on him, pooling at his feet on the ground, but it was thin. It couldn't possibly possess the ability to keep him warm. At least, not as much as his school robes would. But surely his mother would've known that. "So what's the point?" He'd mumbled to himself. Annoyed and confused, he took it off.

He didn't remember going to sleep. It must've happened after he'd counted to 100 and back out of boredom. It was a habit he'd kept from childhood. Whenever he had no other method of falling asleep he would silently go number by number until he reached 100. Then he would reverse the process. It kept going until he was asleep; because, quite frankly, it was exceedingly dull.

"Potter! Potter, wake up!" He heard a voice call through the haze of sleep. He vaugly remembered that voice belonging to one of the boys he'd met on the train the other day. Remus.

"Pour a bucket of ice water on his head, Lupin." Another voice, far more careless than the last, laughed from across the room. "If that won't wake him up I don't know what will."

"Sirius!" The first voice chatsised. "Honestly, you shouldn't act like that. What if it were you in his place, hmm? Would you still think it was funny if iced water found it's way to that thick skull of yours?" There was a shuffle from across the room before Remus continued again. "I thought not."

"Guys, if we're going to be in the Great Hall with enough time to eat we should get going soon." Peter's timid voice came. Closer than Sirius', but farther than Remus'.

"You go on ahead." Sirius suggested and the creak of bed springs filled the room. "We'll be down in a few minutes once Sleeping Beauty over here opens his pretty, pretty eyes."

"Gee, Sirius." James yawned, reaching to the side table to retrieve his glasses. "You really think I'm pretty?" He mocked bashfulness, earning a laugh from the other boys. "What time is it?" He asked after.

"Late enough for you to have exactly five minutes to get ready." Remus took this as his que to take a seat on his own bed. "Which, quite frankly, doesn't seem like enough time to get dressed, brush that mess of hair you have, and gather all your books. But never mind my thoughts."

A door slammed, which James took as Peter leaving the room for the Great Hall. His suspicions were then confirmed when he sat up and pulled his glasses on, not seeing the pudgy boy absent from the room. His bed was sloppily made, but made none the less. The sheets were hastily drawn and the two pillows were not straighten.

Remus' was much neater than Peter's. His bed was all in order and symmetrical. The night stand next to his bed was neatly filled with a glass of water and a small pile of books were cleanly stacked. Sirius' bed, although, was quite the opposite. The sheets were crumpled and thrown, half hanging off the bed, and one of the pillows had somehow managed to find its way to the other half of the bed.

"And neither of you thought to wake me up earlier!" He demanded. Quickly, he slid off the bed, scrambling to pull on the proper clothes. "Thanks for being such twats about it." He mumbled, pulling on his Gryffindor robes.

"Oh, because I'm the one acting like a twat about this." Sirius arched an ebony eyebrow, propping himself up on his right elbow. "Didn't your mother teach you any manners?"

"Manners?" Remus asked, placing three textbooks inside a brown, leather satchel along with quills and parchment. "Take a look at your bed, Sirius. Once you get that, and the rest of your corner as well, in some sort of order then you can start preaching to us about manners."

"Remus Lupin has a sarcastic side." Sirius let out a bark of laughter. "Who would have ever guessed?" But he didn't organize his bed any more than it had been. If anything he purposely messed it up more.

"Shut up." Remus demanded, throwing his pillow at the shaggier boy. Of course, coming from Remus' mouth it sounded less like a threat and more like a general suggestion that Sirius should consider. James doubted the poor boy could be menacing if he tried. "Just come on, we'll be late for breakfast."


End file.
